Chapter 292 - 271: Transformation and Sudden Change

Chapter 292: Chapter 271: Transformation and Sudden Change

One source of Contribution Points was his collaboration with Xie Hui. Though the amount was small each time, it added up to a significant sum over the long run.

Another source was the payment he received for performing Artifact Refining for other Cultivators.

For each refining session, unless the payment was settled in another form, the fee was generally paid in Contribution Points. The amount of Contribution Points varied, depending on the grade of the artifact being refined.

Right now, he had accumulated nearly twenty thousand Contribution Points. Given the increasingly tight exchange rate between Contribution Points and Spirit Stones, this was equivalent to over a hundred thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones!

If he went to the Contribution Treasure Vault to exchange for treasures, he could definitely get quite a few rare items.

Even if the two types of Spirit Medicine he still needed were extremely valuable, they were definitely within his purchasing power.

"Alright, I understand."

Chu Mu nodded, appearing somewhat lost in thought.

He returned to his residence. Amidst the dense Spiritual Qi, Wangcai was still fast asleep.

After sending out a sound transmission, he sat cross-legged in the courtyard, waiting for Xu Yuan’s reply.

Shortly after he sat down, as if sensing something, Chu Mu suddenly looked toward the courtyard gate. With a wave of his hand, a projection appeared before him.

Outside the gate, a woman holding a child was knocking anxiously.

The visitor was none other than Xu Yuan’s Dao Companion, the Female Cultivator named Xia Yu!

Chu Mu frowned as a bad premonition suddenly surfaced.

He rose to his feet and strode forward. Within a few breaths, the courtyard gate opened. Upon seeing him, Xia Yu looked as if she had seen her savior and immediately fell to her knees before Chu Mu.

"Brother Chu, please save Brother Xu! Something’s happened to Brother Xu!"

Her anxious voice reached his ears, and Chu Mu’s pupils constricted. A nearly suffocating gloom enveloped his heart.

"Get up and speak. Don’t panic, tell me slowly."

He helped Xia Yu up, forcefully suppressing the inexplicable killing intent in his heart. His voice turned a few shades colder.

"Brother Chu, something happened to Xu Yuan! Look, this is the Life Soul Lamp he left behind before going to the front lines. It was fine before, but just now, it suddenly became like this. It’s about to go out..."

"Brother Chu, please save Xu Yuan..."

Xia Yu’s face was streaked with tears, her eyes pleading.

Chu Mu gripped the Life Soul Lamp tightly, his arm trembling uncontrollably as he stared at the flickering Life Soul Candle Flame that was about to die out.

He was certainly no stranger to the Life Soul Lamp before him. When Xu Yuan was determined to go to the front lines, Chu Mu had personally refined it after failing to dissuade him.

Its only function was to show the life or death of the person who had left a trace of their soul in it, no matter the distance, as long as there were no spatial barriers.

If the person is alive, the candle flame burns bright. If the person is dead, the candle flame is extinguished.

And now, the Life Soul Candle Flame was flickering like a guttering candle in the wind, about to go out.

’This means that Xu Yuan is on the verge of death, or... he’s been gravely injured...’

Chu Mu took a deep breath. He fumbled to take out his Sound Transmission Order. Xu Yuan’s last sound transmission had been just yesterday morning.

But the sound transmission he had sent just now remained unanswered.

"It’s alright, don’t worry. Xu Yuan is working in the main camp on the front lines, it’s not dangerous. Maybe there’s a problem with the Life Soul Lamp..."

Chu Mu did his best to console her, and in doing so, console himself.

After all, his relationship with Xu Yuan was no secret to anyone paying attention.

As his fame as an Artifact Refining Master grew and his status became more respected, the number of people wanting to befriend him, or even curry favor with him, was naturally not small.

Whether in the Longevity Sect or the Righteous Alliance, the core strength was composed of those in the Foundation Establishment Realm. The Cultivators above them basically didn’t manage practical affairs, seeming to be high and mighty, detached from the mortal world.

Because of this, someone like Xu Yuan received a lot of preferential treatment in the front-line main camp due to his connection to Chu Mu.

He was always assigned tasks that were safe, involved little work, and offered a lot of contribution.

The same went for Xia Yu. Though only a Loose Cultivator at the Late Stage of Qi Cultivation, she had long been assigned to a record-keeping post in the Marketplace’s Contribution Hall—a position that was also easy, safe, with little work and high contribution.

For the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Righteous Alliance, arranging such things often took just a single word. And with just a single word, they could befriend an Artifact Refining Master, or even earn a favor. It was clearly a worthwhile exchange.

’Under these circumstances, the chance of him facing mortal danger was obviously low...’

"Sister-in-law, please go inside and rest for a bit. It’s going to be okay..."

He offered a few more words of comfort, then led Xia Yu and her child into the courtyard. Without a moment’s hesitation, he left the residence and headed straight for the Contribution Hall.

"What?"

Upon hearing his words, Xie Nan’s reaction was even more intense than his own. He shot to his feet, his expression turning visibly grim.

He took out his Sound Transmission Order and sent out one message after another.

A moment later, he looked at Chu Mu, his face dark and tinged with guilt. "Fellow Daoist, a camp on the front lines has fallen. That young friend of yours happened to be working in that very camp..."

"Fellow Daoist, don’t worry. That camp was behind the main front-line camp. It was just a surprise attack by a Longevity Sect special force. Our alliance’s Cultivators discovered them and immediately took it back..."

"That young friend of yours probably just got separated in the chaos..."

As his worries turned into grim reality, Chu Mu’s anxious heart suddenly became calm.

He looked down at the Life Soul Lamp in his hand. It was still flickering, not yet extinguished. His Sound Transmission Order also remained silent.

’This, it seemed, could explain many things.’

’Either he was gravely injured during the fall of the camp and is unconscious or treating his wounds.’

’Or, he has already been captured.’

’But according to what Xie Nan just said, the camp was behind the main front-line camp and was breached in a surprise attack. In that case, speed would have been of the essence. It’s unlikely they would have taken any Cultivators from the camp alive...’

’But no matter what happened, how could he not even have a chance to send a single sound transmission?’

Seeing the Life Soul Candle Flame flicker, Xie Nan couldn’t help but offer more words of comfort:

"I’ve already sent sound transmissions to several friends on the front lines, asking them to keep an eye out for news of your young friend..."

"The fighting at that camp is already over. We should get some news soon..."

"I’ve troubled you, Fellow Daoist."

Chu Mu forced a slight smile. After a brief chat to get a general understanding of the situation on the front lines, he hurriedly left the Contribution Hall.

Outside the Contribution Hall, dusk had fallen, the sun setting.

He stood outside the hall, gazing at the setting sun on the horizon. It stained half the sky a bloody red, where it met the vast, boundless lake.

The ominous premonition lingering in his heart resurfaced, unable to be suppressed.

’An ordinary Loose Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation Realm wouldn’t be worth noticing. But is Xu Yuan ordinary?’

’He is ordinary, but the person backing him—me—is not.’

’Besides, I have a blood feud with someone in the Longevity Sect...’

’Zhao Tang’s father hates me to the bone.’

’Perhaps news of my promotion to Foundation Establishment has spread. As far as I know, the bounty on my head in the Blood Killing Pavilion has increased by a large margin.’

His thoughts raced as his Divine Sense swept through his Storage Ring, taking stock of all his possessions and assets.

The piles of Spirit Materials and Spirit Medicine represented an enormous fortune.

Likewise, his arsenal of techniques had also undergone a transformation during this period of accumulation.

The single Cyan Wolf Puppet he once had had become four.

The Spiritual Materials for them all came from his recent accumulations: some were collected by Xie Hui, some were exchanged for at the Contribution Hall, and some were payments he received for performing Artifact Refining for other Cultivators.

The Minghong Saber, an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact he had previously refined, had been reforged by him and had now reached the grade of a Top Grade Spiritual Artifact.

There were still many Spiritual Materials left, but time was limited, and he hadn’t had the chance to convert them into underlying Combat Power.

As for his own Cultivation, he had been at the Foundation Establishment Realm for several years. Although he had exchanged for some Elixirs to support his Cultivation, his progress hadn’t been significant due to limited resources.

But... under the dual tempering of the Great Sun True Flame and the Divine Soul Saber, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit had been refined day after day, long since reaching the absolute limit for his current level of Cultivation.

Coupled with the fact that his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were already much more profound than those of Cultivators at the same realm, although he was only at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, only he himself knew how terrifying his overall Cultivation and Combat Power truly was.

’And if you added in his many external assets...’

’The abilities of an Artifact Refining Master and a Puppet Master were not to be underestimated,’

’With such means...’

’If the worst came to pass, as long as he wasn’t facing an existence beyond the Foundation Establishment Realm, even if he couldn’t win, it shouldn’t be difficult for him to escape with his life.’

’As for Xu Yuan...’

Chu Mu looked at the Sound Transmission Order in his hand again, once more forcibly suppressing the ominous feeling in his heart.

’If they’re really after me, then Xu Yuan’s safety should be guaranteed.’

’If they aren’t after me, and this was just an accident, then...’

He didn’t dare to imagine it, nor did he want to.

Without lingering for another moment, he headed straight out of the Marketplace.

Outside the Marketplace, a flash of fiery red light appeared like a shooting star, streaking across the sky. Its direction was clearly toward the front-line main camp near Jingmen...

...